forwarded from maphist ... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Congress announces 10,000th map online Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 16:23:38 +0100 From: tony campbell <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Discussion group for map history <[log in to unmask]> To: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 101 Independence Avenue SE Washington DC 20540 Phone (202) 707-2905 Fax (202) 707-9199 Email: [log in to unmask] September 27, 2006 Press contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639, [log in to unmask] Public contact: Colleen Cahill (202) 707-8540 GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION ANNOUNCES MILESTONE OF 10,000TH MAP PLACED ONLINE The Geography and Map Division at the Library of Congress has announced the placement of the 10,000th map on its Web site at www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap. The milestone comes 10 years after the division started digitizing maps in 1996. The map is Samuel de Champlain's 1607 chart on vellum of the North American coast from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts. The unique document, originally intended for presentation to Henry IV, King of France, was compiled by Champlain (1567-1635), founder of New France (Canada). The map provides the first thorough delineation of the New England and Canadian coast from Cape Sable to Cape Cod. "I am pleased to announce the posting of our 10,000th cartographic object on the Web. This achievement recognizes the great strides that the Geography and Map Division has made in the past 10 years to share digital images of its analog collection globally," said John Hebert, chief of the Geography and Maps Division (G&M). "The geographic variety of cartographic treasures that have been chosen to appear on the Web site, from 16th century portolan charts of the Mediterranean world to contemporary maps of places in the news, and from city and county plans to detailed topographical maps and nautical charts, I believe fosters increased use of maps in research and serves to advance our collective knowledge and appreciation of maps as primary sources," said Hebert. Champlain's 1607 chart has been frequently described and reproduced in articles and books for many years. It came to the Library of Congress in 1915, with the bequest of Henry Harrisse (1829-1910), distinguished lawyer, historian, bibliographer and author of "The Discovery of North America, Bibliotheca Americana Vetustissima" and other scholarly works. It had been owned earlier by Gabriel Marcel. The papers and maps bequeathed by Harrisse are housed in the Rare Book and Special Collections and the Geography and Map divisions of the Library of Congress. Champlain's map can be viewed at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3321p.ct001431. This image is in wavelet format, which allows the visitor to zoom in and out of the map. The Geography and Map Division's online catalog can be found at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html. The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress serves as a major international center for research relating to cartography and geography. Its collection is the largest in the world, with 5.4 million maps, 75,000 atlases, 500 globes, 3,000 three-dimensional objects and thousands of digital files. # # # PR06-183 9/27/06 ISSN: 0731-3527 ******************************** I am forwarding this to the list, even though I imagine the Library of Congress will do so itself, in due course. They deserve our congratulations and thanks for this marvellous achievement - the provision of properly documented, research-quality images, set into a wide range of sharply-focused contexts. Let us hope they can manage to maintain the impressive rate of 1000 images per year. For those interested, my attempt at a summary analysis of the various elements spread over different LoC sites (not just American Memory) is here: http://www.maphistory.info/imagelarge.html#lc and a listing of other large image sites here: http://www.maphistory.info/imageindex.html Tony Campbell [log in to unmask]